When the students got off the bus and entered The Armory they got their first taste of the dry, dusty air. As they walked up the four flights of stairs to the grandstands they could hear “All I Want For Christmas is You” by Mariah Carey and the screams of small children in the distance. After a quick warm-up run around the block the students were ready to get running. Soon they heard the loud “Boom!” of the gun to start the first heat of the girls 55 meter race and the meet was off.

On Wednesday December 7, 2016 the Hackley indoor track team had their first meet. The star of the evening for Hackley was junior Onye Ohia-Enyia who won both the boys 55 meter dash with a time of 7.04 seconds and the boys 300 meter dash with a time of 36.41 seconds. Also winning multiple events for Hackley was senior Amin Mustefa who won the boys long jump with a distance of 19 feet and 9.25 inches and the boys triple jump with a distance of 40 feet and 10.5 inches. Junior Javon Coleman had two top three finishes coming in second in the boys 55 meter hurdles with a time of 9.13 seconds as well as coming in third in the boys high jump with a jump of 5 feet and 6 inches. Also placing in the top three of their events for Hackley were junior Elon Middleton who came in second in the girls shot put with a throw of 26 feet and 2.5 inches, junior Laura Walter-McNeill who came in third in the girls 55 meter hurdles with a time of 10.39 seconds, the Hackley boys 4×200 meter relay team who came in second with a time of 1:41.70, senior Luisa Stalman who came in second in the girls 300 meter dash with a time of 46.22 seconds, and senior Jordan Patrick who came in second in the boys shot put with a throw of 35 feet 8 inches.

While the first Ivy Prep League Meet went well for Hackley’s indoor track and field team, even better can be expected of them in the future. Due to injuries, Hackley was unable to field either a boys or girls 4×400 meter relay team this meet. The distance team also ran the 300 meter and 600 meter runs instead of the 1,000 meter, 1,600 meter, and 3,200 meter runs they typically do, resulting in poor results for the distance team. Really, the purpose of this first meet was to get the runners used to running at The Armory which is a very strange place to run. When asked about the banked track, freshman Tommy Larson said “It’s really weird. It’s like having someone pushing you toward the infield while you run.” Senior Alex Popov said “It has taken me three years to get used to the loud gun they use here.” Finally, junior Connor Larson said “It smells like cigarette smoke in here. It is really difficult to breathe while you’re running.” Now that Hackley’s runners are used to the difficulties of running at The Armory and the injured runners have had a chance to rest, Hackley should perform much better at the next indoor track meet.